“Praying from the heart is personal and unmistakable.”

A thought by Craig Groeschel, from his book, Dangerous Prayers, Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Prayer is very personal.

Craig says, “There’s certainly nothing wrong with reading a prayer or using someone else’s words to pray. In fact, reading prayers can be a good starting point in learning to pray your own. Over time, though, if you want to know God intimately, you will begin to pray more unscripted prayers that come straight from your heart. As your faith grows, your prayers will likely well up deep inside you. You may not even know how to express them in words. They’re simply communication between you and your Father, the living God Almighty. Deeply personal and just as unique as your fingerprint.”

He goes on, “You don’t have to look far in the Psalms to see the honest cries from the heart of David. He questioned God. He complained to God. He petitioned God. From the depths of his soul, David cried out to his heavenly Father, asking, ‘How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?’ (Ps. 13:1–2).

“But I’m afraid many of us aren’t comfortable praying openly and freely. We assume there’s a right way or a better way or a more eloquent way. We tend to stumble into ruts and pray for the same things over and over. We get bored with our prayers.”

He continues, “Prayer is sacred communication, the language of longing, a divine dialogue between you and your heavenly Father, your Abba, your Daddy. When you pray, the God of the universe listens. And not only does he listen, but he also cares. About what you have to say. About all the things you carry around in your heart that no one else knows about. Maybe even some things you don’t know about. God wants to hear you and speak to you. He wants to communicate with you the same way you sit across from a loved one and enjoy an intimate conversation.”

And then Craig says, “Your prayers matter.”

And that is very important for us to know, isn't it?

Yes, yes!

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